


Just You

by susiephalange



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Cabin Fic, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Female Reader, Marriage Proposal, Stranded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 09:09:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13120611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/susiephalange/pseuds/susiephalange
Summary: Horribly lost in the forest in late December, ________ and Bruce have to make do with Christmas in a safe house since everyone else has gone off for the holidays.But maybe, it isn't so bad.





	Just You

**Author's Note:**

> This was a request from my Wattpad!

At this minute, in somewhere, U.S.A., the young ________ and her boyfriend, Bruce Banner, were completely, and totally, lost. It was not because they had been arguing over a map, or had turned left when they arguably should have turned right. No. They were lost simply because of a mistake, or, if asked later, fate itself. Bruce Banner, had Hulked out, and taken his fellow Avenger and girlfriend with him. It was the first time the Hulk had taken the wheel, in that sense, and took their mutual interest away from danger.

But, the facts were these; ________ and Bruce were surrounded by snow in a forest, feeling cold. And they decided that, in hindsight, what had happened was not a good call. But the Hulk was the Hulk, and what had happened had happened. So, these two lovers, and Avengers, had become lost to the wilderness within their own home country.

“________,” Bruce said, reaching for her. At his touch, the other hero wakened, shivering. “Where are we?”

The thing with being people, or really, sentient clusters of atoms, was that they were matter, and mass, and took up a place in the world. They could not be ultimately lost, or really, unfindable, because there was always a here and a there in the world.

They north-east of the forests of Minnesota, U.S.A.; over a thousand miles from where they had fought alongside their teammates against HYDRA.

“I’m – I’m not sure,” ________’s teeth chattered, cold beyond her belief. They lay in a small drift of snow. From what Bruce could see of ________, and what ________ could see of Bruce, they were both pale and blue-lipped, exposed to the elements.

“What happened?” Bruce began to sit up, gingerly touching his head. “I can’t remember much after I Hulked out.” He admitted.

________ nodded. “We were winning, until we weren’t.” That was true. There had been a surprise attack, and the Avengers had been split in two. Unable to see the rest of their teammates, the Hulk realised that the warrior beside him who could see the past, was in more danger than ever before. And, fled the scene, his battle partner and girlfriend in arms, away. “You saved me.”

He chuckled at those words. “And now we’re going to freeze to death.”

That was a probability, as they were in the elements, exposed, in December, wearing little to no clothing, and had been inert for hours. ________ touched her Avenger-issued wristband, a relic from the days when S.H.I.E.L.D. micro-managed the team. The band came to life, revealing holographic images of different intel and things that they were granted access to. Her frozen fingers sifted through the holographs, tossing things aside. Until,

“There’s a safe house nearby,” she whispered. “Almost a mile away.”

Together, our heroes trudged toward the safe house. Bruce helped ________ stand, ________ helped Bruce’s bare skin by shedding her jacket. As kind a gesture as it was, Bruce took it, even though the sizing was off. They plodded together, off in the direction of ________’s wristband.

Now returned after the battle from Washington state, Mr. Tony Stark heard a small beeping in the mainframe in his lab. Dashing from where he worked out the kinks and dings in his suit, a wide smile came over his face.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” he calls out, overjoyed. He’d jump for joy, but it’s too early to say a thing. Just because the wristband had been accessed, didn’t mean the two Avengers would be safe. “Tell everyone to come here. ASAP!”

The computer system responds in her Irish lilt, “There is nobody here, sir.”

Tony stills, his fingers stopping where they were above the keyboard. He’d forgotten. After finishing the last-minute mission, the team had disbanded for the holidays. Scott Lang was staying with his ex-wife for his daughter’s Christmas. Wanda Maximoff was celebrating Hanukkah with Vision with Clint’s family. Natasha had taken a plane to New Zealand to celebrate the holidays in warmth. Steve and Bucky were in Brooklyn, having a quiet holiday in his brownstone. Peter Parker was at home with his Aunt and her boyfriend. Thor and Loki were in Norway, as far as he knew. And yes, he was alone in the Avengers facility. Pepper was braving the Christmas Eve shopping scene with Happy in central New York.

“Right,” he mutters, and goes to work. Within five minutes, he’s hacked into the wristband. He finds ________ and Bruce are nearby the Carlton Peak safe house. He writes a line of code, and works in a way to contact them, and then, wraps up the sequence. He sits there at his desk, elbows upon the desk, fingers balancing his forehead, and sighs. He looks to the roof, and mutters, “I'm hoping for a Christmas miracle, right now.”

Perhaps it was that which happened later.

Within twenty minutes, the pair of Avengers had made it to the location. Incensed by the threat of losing limbs, they marched onto the property, where S.H.I.E.L.D. had a small safe house. But when ________ tried the door, she found it locked. Bruce found a retinal scanner, but it didn’t respond to his eye, or hers. Standing by the locked door, with not a thing left to do, ________ lifted her wrist, the band touching the door.

The door unlocked.

The two stumbled inside, and found themselves in a nice cabin. There was a fire crackling in the brick fireplace, a small couch, what looked like a pantry, and a bed in the corner. Bruce rushed to the fire, warming his hands before the red-umber light. ________ went to take off her wristband, and scope the safe house. But as soon she took the band from her wrist, the holographic images were back, accompanied by a large sound. Bruce flinched, ready to fight whatever enemy had arisen.

But, there was no enemy. Only a good friend.

The facts were these: Tony Stark, the Iron Man, a former child genius who had grown older over time, had added a fail-safe code to the wristband. It allowed contact between himself and the two Avengers holed up in Minnesota, and once removed, allowed for a one-way holo-video feed.

“Oh, good, you’re not dead,” Tony Stark’s floating head from the watch exhaled, relieved. “Didn’t look forward to that.”

Bruce scrambled from the fireplace to where ________ stood, holding the watch. “What – is this a recording?”

The face shook its head. “No, Bruce, it’s me.” His face winked, and turned to ________. “So, you’re at the safe house? I already set a fire, glad you're making use of it...records say it hasn’t been used for a year, but I bet any canned food is safe to eat. It used to house agents like Romanov and Barton, back before the fiasco.” He told them.

“Wait, canned food?” Bruce repeated. “You’re not going to rescue us?”

________ passed the wristband to Bruce. She went to explore the rest of the cabin, and zoned out their conversation. Busying herself counting the supplies in the place they were in, ________ made stock of what they had. Most of the canned food was in date, and in a blanket box, there were thermals, blankets, and spare clothes and shoes. There was a bathroom, and a small kitchenette, and, the bed in the corner was a single, and there was only one. As she touched the frame, she saw images in her mind. An agent with blonde hair taking the bed, her partner taking the couch.

“What do you mean, you’re not coming?” Bruce exclaimed. ________ shook the retrocognitive vision from her mind. Grabbing a blanket, she draped it over his shoulders. Bruce added, “Send a Quinjet on autopilot! One of your suits! Someone!”

________ took the wristband back from her boyfriend, facing Tony Stark. “It’s okay if we have to stay here for a couple of days, Stark. It’s nothing we haven’t done before on a mission.” She sighs, and adds, “I mean, we'll have Christmas here, but we can make that sacrifice.”

“I’ll have someone extract you before New Year’s, okay? I promised Pepper it’d be us, no Avengers or disasters for five days.” There’s a noise in the back of the feed, and he perks up. “She’s back! Okay, got to go.”

Before Bruce can add anything, Tony has disappeared.

At that minute, in the safe house in Minnesota, U.S.A., ________, and her boyfriend, realised this. They were left to their own devices for a week. The two shared a look, and then, with a sigh, decided to buckle down to find what they could do for the next five days. ________ went for a warm shower, and Bruce pulled on a pair of pants, and a blue-grey sweater from the box of supplies. Before making do with canned beans and canned meat. It looked awful, and he threw it away. Bruce Banner made do with an assortment of legumes and beans from cans, heated over the gas stove.

When ________ withdrew from the shower, she stood there, towel drying her head, watching her boyfriend. The facts were these: a week before the impromptu battle between Avengers and HYDRA, ________ had made a reservation. It was at a nice restaurant in the quieter side of the city, at the recommendation of her old friend Foggy Nelson, and, hidden away in a sock in her draw, was a ring.

________ was a human being, who loved another human with all her heart, and after spending almost five years dating, wished to take it to another level. She knew her quiet, demure boyfriend would not take the stand, and despite this, she loved him with all her heart. And watching him then, she knew that she was right in her choice.

“You’re staring,” Bruce mutters, dishing two servings of the meal.

She shakes her head, the memories leaving her sights, and moves to take a serving. “Sorry, Bruce…” she whispers, and kissing his cheek, goes to sit upon the couch.

After her kiss, he stands there. He's frozen in his spot, yet, warm inside. Usually he felt the presence of the Hulk in his mind, but then, there was only him in his mind. The voice in his head was whispering all the wonderful things about ________, how much he loved her.

Bruce had met her off-duty seven years ago, when she had been working in a spiritual store. He’d been browsing the incense for mediation, and not looking, he bumped into her. Their hands had touched as they scrambled to pick up the fallen stack of books on Reiki. She saw his past at that moment, and right then, he saw a future with her. It was because of him that S.H.I.E.L.D. caught wind of her mutation, and trained her to become a new Avenger.

Ever since, Bruce had become almost love-sick with her. It took two years’ worth of courage to work up the nerve to ask her out. It was now seven years after he bumped into her. He had a ring picked out, hidden away between his computer and his copy of _A Brief History of Time_. He knew that ________ would expect him to ask her to marry him. But with all the work they had had over the last three months, there had been barely any time for him to sit down and ask her. Except, right now, and he didn’t have it with him.

Together they sat before the fire, watching as it licked the log before it. It was a while before the both of you would speak, or any thing more than process what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Soon, his eyes were growing tired, and hers too, and together, they fell asleep before the fire, their hands intertwined.

When Bruce woke, the next morning had begun, the sun spilling over the icy wonderland outside the cabin like a cold warmth. Beside him, the space where ________ had been the night previous was empty, and cold, and his heart raced, afraid. But when his eyes went to the window, he saw her, her face pressed up against the pane, breath hot against the glass.

“Good morning,” his girlfriend turned to him, eyes wide with wonder. “Merry Christmas!”

Bruce rose from the couch, his hair tousled from his sleep. As he looked at ________ and saw a woman he loved for all she was, ________ looked at him, and saw the same thing. He met her at the window, and linking fingers, followed her gaze outside. It was a winter wonderland, and for once in his life, he was glad he had survived the ordeal and come to be where he was. Even if he was fifty percent Hulk, one hundred percent of him loved her.

“Merry Christmas,” he smiled, kissing her.

She laughed, and nuzzled her head into his neck. “As much as it sucks to be stuck here, I’m glad I’m stuck here with you,” she kissed just below his ear, and giggling, added, “This would be very much different if you’d taken Hawkeye. Or Thor.”

But Bruce shook his head. “But I don’t love those guys. Just you.” He let go of her, and slowly, went down on one knee. ________’s eyes widened, but at the same time, she followed him to the floor, also balancing on a knee. “Wh-what are you doing?”

“Well, if you’re grabbing something from the floor, I’m doing that too,” she said. “But it looks like you’re proposing. Which I wanted to do too.” She licks her lips, and says, “Okay, you go first.”

Bruce nods. “________, I knew ever since the day I met you that you were special. And you are. You make me a better man, a better Avenger – and I know that I want to live the rest of my life alongside you. This isn’t just me asking, but Hulk too – we’re a whole. I promise to stay by your side, to share all the good times, and bad times too,” Bruce stammers, and adds, “But I can’t make any promises for Hulk, he does what he wants.”

________ felt tears forming in her eyes. “I know he loves me too.”

“…________, I don’t have the ring with me, but,” he continues, looking deep into your eyes. “Will you marry me?”

She nods. “Yes, Bruce,” she whispers. “Before I met you, I was surrounded by people who I knew the past of, but who had no intention of knowing my future with me,” she tells him. “Ever since I’ve been with you, you’ve been a rock, strength I cannot have fathomed before. You’re a strong man, a strong fighter, and I know that I will fight alongside you, and love and live with you for as long as we live.” She wipes the tears from her eyes, and add, “Bruce Banner, it would be an honour to marry you.”

And it was then, at that minute, that ________ and Bruce Banner, knew were stuck in a cabin in the woods with only beans, pasta, and the warmth of each other’s body. Sure, it wasn’t a reservation in New York City that took a lot of pulling of strings from ________’s lawyer friend, or a picnic on the roof of the compound, but they were together. And that wasn’t half bad at all.  

**Author's Note:**

> Buy me [ko-fi](https://www.ko-fi.com/M4M3P4NJ)?
> 
> If you have any requests, find me on Tumblr at @susiephalange, or [@phalangewrites](https://phalangewrites.tumblr.com/request_conditions) ʕ·ᴥ·ʔ✿


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